


The Talk

by Archadian_Skies



Series: keeping your head up [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Asexual Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Asexual Hank Anderson, Family, Family Bonding, Found Family, Gen, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Muteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23872780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archadian_Skies/pseuds/Archadian_Skies
Summary: Do you still need to give your sons The Talk if they’re androids?
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Connor, Hank Anderson & Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Sumo, Hank Anderson & Upgraded Connor | RK900, pre Upgraded Connor | RK900/Simon
Series: keeping your head up [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720468
Comments: 7
Kudos: 102





	The Talk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Indig0](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indig0/gifts).



> Interim chapter for [i know your soul, i'll be your home] but can be read as a standalone

Do you still need to give your sons The Talk if they’re androids? Initial thought is no, they’re androids they have access to all that information in their heads why would they need a human to go through it with them in an excruciatingly awkward situation? Second thought is...maybe? Maybe, because they may be super computers but they’re also incredibly young and new to deviancy, and having to suddenly deal with emotions, something humans have experienced since day one, must be overwhelming. So Hank decides yes, actually in fact he will give them The Talk. 

Car rides are the best time for awkward discussions because everyone is trapped in a moving vehicle with no chance to escape. Hank won’t subject both his boys to the awkward conversation at the same time, so he tries it with Connor one night after they clock off and pile into the car to head home. 

“So err…” God how do you even start? “Listen, kid, I know deviancy is a clusterfuck of emotions you gotta wade through but...you know I’m here to help, right?”

“Yes Hank.” Connor nods, expression attentive. Okay. Deep breath.

“So...like, if you have...feelings towards another person- android or human! Either is fine! Or both! Or more than one!” Hank hurriedly adds. “I can...help you make sense of those.”

“Feelings?” Connor blinks. “I experience many feelings towards humans and androids alike, Hank, though I don’t think I need external assistance to process them.”

“No, no- god-” Hank groans, and he realises the only awkward thing about this is him. “No I mean, like...feelings. Strong feelings. Of attraction to someone.” Is he even an authority on this matter, considering he’s painted two flags on his cheeks since he was seventeen and his sexuality can be summed up with “nah, no thanks”? 

“Oh.” Connor’s brows raise and his mouth makes a little ‘O’. “You are concerned I would not know how to handle sexual relationships.”

“Not just sexual- romantic too.” Hank corrects, and he can practically feel the stress rolling off of him in waves and he knows Connor will too. “You know. You’re surrounded by good looking androids. And humans. You might be feeling things towards them. Urges for...contact. You might think about being...intimate with them.”

“I do not.” Connor says simply, following with a shrug. “There are certain android models which are incredibly aesthetically pleasing- Markus is considered very handsome by many, and Ms Chloe is very pretty given she is a custom Carl Manfred sculpture. I find Ms Stephanie’s freckles very endearing, as does her girlfriend Officer Chen I’m sure. Simon is a PL600, the most popular face model in the CyberLife catalogue and I understand that is because he was designed to look incredibly gentle and non-threatening. Echo and Ripple are beautifully expressive, and North has a ferocity to her which is impressive and attractive. Josh looks very composed and intelligent.” He rattles it all off as if he’s simply telling Hank case details. “As for humans, yes there are aesthetically pleasing features to be found in individuals. Imperfections are what make you all so unique.”

“But...you don’t...feel attracted to anyone? Or, some sort of strong affection?” They idle at a red light and Connor’s expression is one of gentle amusement.

“No, I do not. The affection I feel for others is entirely familial or philial.” A pause, and the amusement is gone, replaced with something a little self-conscious, a little hopeful. “I would think, then, that I take after you. That these two stickers here-” he taps the little aromantic and asexual flags, faded and scratched but still right there on the dashboard, still strong, still  _ valid  _ “-apply to me too. Like father, like son.” 

And all at once it’s not awkward, not one bit, and Hank’s heart swells as he pulls up into their driveway and kills the engine and then he’s reaching over to squeeze Connor’s shoulder.

“Yeah kiddo. Like father, like son.”

* * *

One down, one to go. He’s got a sneaking suspicion the younger RK already has feelings for a certain android, so he needs to act on this fast so the poor kid isn’t barreling down an unfamiliar route unprepared. His short life’s complicated enough, having been stolen from CyberLife and subsequently rescued from an illegal cage fighting ring. Every route is unfamiliar, actually; anything that isn’t directly related to experiencing pain is a foreign concept. Hank realises he needs to take a few steps back, and start from the very start. This isn’t a conversation to spring on Ronan in the car, he doesn’t want him to feel trapped when all he’s known before coming to live with them is captivity. What Hank needs to do is teach the android he’s allowed to exist and take up space and decide who he wants to interact with, if anyone at all. 

He plans it out with Connor, and the older RK decides to stay out after work with Android Jesus and Pals so Hank can sit with Ronan. He makes sure Sumo is there in the kitchen with them, makes sure the dog is sitting attentively at Ronan’s side in case the android wants the comfort only that big slobbery rug can provide. 

“Ronan, I know everything is very new for you and I know it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster trying to figure it all out.” He starts slow, he starts generically and Ronan nods slowly. “I uh, I had a big talk with Connor the other day in the car but I realise the talk you and I have to have needs to be a little different.”

Again he nods, and Hank clears his throat before continuing. “You’ve lived your whole life with people doing things to you, to your body, without your permission. That definitely isn’t ok. Now that you’re here with us, I want you to know we won’t ever make you do anything you don’t want.”

The android looks at him, expression a little confused a little guarded but he nods again. 

“So. Um.” Fishing out his phone, he opens the gallery and holds it out to him. “I ordered these yesterday and they should arrive tomorrow and Connor said he’d like to put it together with you, y’know, brother-bonding kinda stuff.” Hank swipes through the screenshots of Ikea furniture- a simple double bed, a set of drawers, a neat desk and chair set. “Even before you came into our lives I cleared out the old home office and moved it to the lounge since I do jack shit in there anyway. It’ll be your room now, Ronan.”

His brows crease and his LED flashes yellow and Hank hurriedly adds. “Not that this means you have to stop sharing with Connor, I know he keeps you grounded, and I know for a fact he loves you to bits and doesn’t mind it at all. But this means that when you want privacy, Ronan, when you don’t want anyone to look at you or talk to you, you can close the door of your room and we will respect that. No one will go in unless you want them to.”

Ronan takes Hank’s phone, holding it reverently as if it were made of glass and he swipes through the photos slowly, eyes flicking over to him every now and then as if to check that he isn’t joking, isn’t lying, isn’t promising him things that will never happen like all the other humans in his life. 

“You’re a part of this household, Ronan.” Okay, deep breath, onto the next part. “And you can make your own decisions about your own feelings. Like, if you’re overwhelmed and don’t want to be around anyone you can go into your room. You can also...invite people into your room. If you want them there. Not just Connor or Sumo. Other people. People you feel close to. And maybe want to feel...closer to.”

Ronan frowns, tipping his head slightly and Hank thinks it must be an RK trait, a brotherly thing, to do the confused little headtilt. 

“Simon stays here when Connor and I are at work.” Hank’s trying to tiptoe a very fine line and boy does he know it and he’s sweating bullets trying not to make this awkward for the both of them. “Do you...feel affection for him?”

Ronan’s LED blinks red and Hank nearly presses the proverbial abort button but after a moment the android places his palm where a human’s sternum would end- where an android’s heart lay. He slowly clenches his hand into a fist, making a squeezing gesture.

“He makes your heart feel tight, doesn’t he?” Oh he’s grinning and he doesn’t mean to be but boy if this isn’t the most endearing thing that’s happened to him this week he doesn’t know what else is. “That’s good, Ronan. Is it a different kind of feeling from what you feel for Connor?”

A rapid nod, and Hank’s grin widens into a proper smile. “Okay. That’s good. That’s the best kind of heart squeeze, isn’t it?” Another rapid nod. “Well. Your body is your own now, Ronan. No one can tell you what to do with it, and no one can do things to it without your permission. That goes both ways too, it means that even if you feel things for Simon, it’s up to Simon to let you know what’s okay with his body too. Does that...make sense?”

Ronan gazes back at him, brows creased, lips slightly parted and LED a bright crayon yellow before slowly cycling blue as he nods. He stands up so quickly the chair shrieks in protest and tips back with a clatter and then he’s leaning down, expression quietly desperate and Hank knows what that means now. Raising his hand, he slides it to cup his nape, closing the small distance between them and gently bumping their foreheads together. 

Phew. That wasn’t so bad now was it? 

**Author's Note:**

> [I'm still on this hellsite.](https://archadianskies.tumblr.com/)   
> 


End file.
